Peptide technology

The mammalian brain, even of simple animals, is the most complex biological structure. This highly elaborate organ forms several dimensions of complexity at the different levels of organization, ranging from molecules and cells up to behavior. The cellular properties as well as the molecular apparatus of neurons, subserving individual circuits, operate in the highly branched networks and form the physical and biological basis of cognition.

A major goal of neuroscience is to map these neuronal circuits and networks in order to determine the way they subserve brain function. To achieve this complicated goal, state of the art tools and precise measurement in time and space are required. Our lab focuses on the development of powerful perturbation tools for probing causal dependencies between molecular pathways and cellular-circuit to behavioral states in specific cell populations in health and disease. Using our innovative approach, one can manipulate a specific function of a protein while additional functions are not affected with high spatial and temporal resolution in the adult brain.